What is Washboard Express?

Washboard Express is a way for me to express my own opinions, to be a provocative gadfly, by writing a "letter a day" to the President. I may miss a day here and there, because sometimes my family with be my first priority, but my goal is to write a total of 365 letters, representing one full year. To say I have opinions about most things would be to understate the obvious. Those of you that know me, know this is true, those who don't know me, will learn that it's true. The Washboard is a reference to going back to basics and "keeping it clean," so if you would like me to post your comments or opinions on this blog, I only ask that you be respectful. So go ahead, express yourself, and I look forward to an exchange of ideas and opinions.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Day 78...Dear Mr. President...White Hats and Good Guys

Day 78

Dear Mr. President,

Remember in the cowboy movies you could always tell the good guys from the bad guys by the color of their hat? The good guys always had the white hats, while the bad guys wore black hats. I think there may have been an exception to that rule and that was Paladin from Have Gun Will Travel.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who the good guys are these days… it used to be that those people who went to church regularly and professed a love of God, were good people. Today I’m not so sure anymore. It seems the ones who shout the loudest and the longest about their ‘Christian’ ways, are least apt to follow basic Christian values like do unto others… or judge not… or love thy neighbor… etc…

Yesterday was Friday, which is ‘date day’ for my husband and me, so we decided to go to the movies. Last week I chose Midnight in Paris, which was great, and this week Gary picked Cowboys and Aliens… staring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I figured with 007 and Indiana Jones as the heroes, it couldn’t be that bad.

Even though both characters were ‘bad guys’ in their own right, they had to team up and work together to defeat the evil and dangerous aliens. The aliens came to earth to steal all the gold and snatched the good people of the town so they could study them to discover our weaknesses before they took over the planet. In the end the cowboys and Indians won the day, the heroine blew up the mother ship, the people were rescued, and the gold remained. Our heroes turned over a new leaf, and everyone rejoiced with singing, dancing and drinking in the town saloon.

I couldn’t help but think of what’s happening in politics today… you’re trying your best to save peoples jobs, their houses, their Social Security and Medicare, while the Republicans try to keep more and more for themselves and the richest Americans.

So while the Bible says, it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven, I have to wonder why so many people think they need so much more than they do? The old saying, ‘you can’t take it with you’ is true… the aliens found that out, they came to rob the earth of it’s gold, and instead they were blown to smithereens. The guys in the white hats won the day.

So Mr. President, I don’t want you to worry yourself completely gray… greedy people that have tons of money, are no happier then those of us who have a lot less. They can’t take it with them, it cannot guarantee good health, and it will not get you into heaven. Essentially money buys you freedoms, freedom to go where you want, buy the ‘things’ you want, and do what you want within the law… and that’s about it.

The “Good News” for today is… you may be the first black man in the White House, but you are also wearing the “white hat”… yes, you’re one of the good guys.

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About Me

Having just retired after 15 years in magazine publishing, I thought I would venture into the wide world of Blogging. In my 66 years I've gained some insight about a few things. Most are silly observations about life in general. Some are serious, involving politics, and what I perceive to be right and wrong. My goal is to be somewhat of a gadfly, so if I goad you one way or the other, I've accomplished my goal.